Cutting Machines and Files

Most cutting machines are dependent upon a sticky cutting mat to hold your material in place while it gets cut.  Eventually you will find your cutting mat isn't sticky enough.  We have several tips:1. Clean your cutting mat:Submerge mat in warm soapy water until all the paper dissolves away.  Let air dry.Use baby wipes and wipe away all the gunk.Products such as Goof Off and nail polish remover can help clean a mat.  Use with caution.  Always try it in a small corner first to make sure you aren't ruining your mat.2. Use tape right on your mat to hold your paper in plac..

When using cutting files, you will often need to cut a design with lots of little pieces that all need to be cut on different colors of paper.  With a little planning you can load multiple colors of paper at once in your machine.  You will definitely need to use your software like MTC, Silhouette Studio, or InVue.  The good news is all the software for all the machines allows for this type of set up.  1.  Open your cutting file in your cutting software2.  If need be ungroup your file. You need to be able to see all the different layers of a cutting file.  3. ..

If you are new to cutting machines and cutting files you will find out that as awesome as cutting machines can be, that often your brand new mat can be TOO sticky!  Your paper will not only be "clinging" desperately to your paper, you might find it nearly impossible to get it off without tearing it.  Here is some advice:You can "de-sticky" a mat by touching it with fabric.  We recommend clean cotton.  A clean dish towel will work or even a clean t-shirt.  Some people suggest lightly touching it to their carpet.  That might work if your carpet isn't too new or you ..

Welding is a term often used in the crafting world, and most specifically in the digital crafting world.  When someone refers to welding they will typically mean permanently fusing shapes together.  Welding can be used to simplify your cutting files but it really comes in handy when a person is using letters.  Cutting out many letters and placing them on your project can be very time consuming.  Learning to use the welding tool in your software is a big help.For this tip we suggest first finding a font that is heavy enough to cut out and be pulled off your mat.  Also l..